


Love, Hers and Hers II

by queeniesye



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Drama, F/F, Fluff, One Shot Collection, Romance, Yearning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-22
Updated: 2020-03-22
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:40:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,340
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23265601
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queeniesye/pseuds/queeniesye
Summary: Aerith had to choose: Will it be the beautiful brunette Tifa Lockhart, or the blonde Cloud Strife?
Relationships: Aerith Gainsborough/Tifa Lockhart
Kudos: 26





	Love, Hers and Hers II

**Author's Note:**

> This is the Aerith POV of Love, Hers and Hers!

“Rare flowers are available for sale here!”

Standing in the midst of the busy sunny streets of Midgar was a female flower merchant in a pink dress, carrying with her a woven basket filled with newly plucked healthy flowers that never seem to grow openly in the city. She hailed from the slums beneath the plated metropolitan city, but the streets are witnesses to her hawking activities since she was as young as sixteen years of age. Her voice was all too familiar to the city dwellers, who recognized that she was no one other than the Aerith Gainsborough. Many walked by without heeding her yells, until she caught the attention of a man with a red hair who came towards her to keenly inspect the flowers in her basket.

Aerith noticed the man becoming more troubled – a hint that he was a first time buyer. She heard him sighed in defeat, and finally asked for her advice, “My girlfriend’s birthday is around the corner… which flower you reckon I should get for her?”

“Let’s see… I think these tulips would be a great gift. It symbolizes true love,” Aerith replied, handing the man one stalk of red flower from her basket.

“Hmm… I want five of these then. How much would they cost?”

“700gils each, so… 3500gils in total.”

The man’s jaw dropped – a reaction Aerith was used to receiving every time she detailed the cost of purchasing her flowers.

“3-3500? Isn’t that a little too expensive?”

Aerith shrugged, evidently tired of having to justify the price of her flowers, “Not really, if you consider the fact that these flowers are rare here in Midgar and I grow and take care of them myself.”

“Can’t I have some sort of… discount? At least for now. It’s for my girlfriend’s birthday after all!”

 _Sure, man… Everyone else’s moms, girlfriends, wives are having their birthdays too. Why should yours be a special case?_ the thoughts Aerith hid in her head almost made her eye roll in unison.

But, she kept it professional. “…Fine. 2000gils is the lowest I can give you.”

Her proposition seemed to irritate the man because his voice grew louder as he spoke, “That is still too expensive.”

“Sorry but I can’t go any lower.”

The man grew much furious. In a fit, he threw the red tulip in his hand to the ground and whipped Aerith’s woven basket away from her grip with his arm. “You can take your flowers and shove it!”

The sight of her flowers and basket all scattered on the ground enraged Aerith! She screamed, with all her might, to the man who was stomping away, “YOU FREAKING JERK!”

As she knelt on the ground to pick up her flowers and basket, Aerith heard from afar the voice of a woman who took her side, “Hey, you owe her an apology.”

“But- But… she was charging me a little too high for the flowers!” the man stuttered a sheepish reply.

“It doesn’t matter, Johnny. That was really rude of you. Help her pick those flowers up.”

Aerith smiled in amusement when she heard the man making a walk of shame back to her, following the woman’s orders, just to help pick her flowers up. When they finished, the man briefly bowed his head apologetically to her, and then eagerly jogged away to assist the other woman in carrying several open crates of alcoholic drinks. The crates were marked with huge stamped logos of the term “Seventh Heaven”.

Seventh Heaven is a household name in Midgar. Aerith heard nothing but positive raving reviews about the bar – the food, the drinks, the services and the owner. If anyone could calmly instruct a person as rude and unflinching as the man, it would be the highly competent owner of the Seventh Heaven bar.

 _So… the owner of Seventh Heaven is his… girlfriend?_ Aerith wondered.

Her eyes trailed off to the woman who had the upper hand against the man. She was supervising him and several others as they loaded the crates into the back of a pickup truck. Aerith could tell that the woman has a fitness regime, judging from the lean and muscular profile of her physique. Her brunette hair glistened under the sun’s rays, and so did the beautiful teardrop-shaped steel earring that was hanging on one of her ears.

Aerith sights fell on the man once again… _what a waste!_ She lamented.

To her surprise, the woman turned around to look at her – a kind smile was formed on her lips, and the redness of her pupils flared by the day’s brightness.

Aerith gulped. She swore her heart just skipped a beat.

“Please forgive him, miss. He could be a bit dense and rude sometimes.”

 _This is unfair! Of course I’m going to forgive him, if you’re asking me to!_ Aerith thought to herself.

Aerith put on the friendliest smile that she could muster and answered, “Of course… there’s nothing to worry about. Mmhmm… No big deal.”

Her answer pleased the woman – she could tell from the tone of the woman’s voice as she thanked her before hopping into the pickup truck and driving away.

Aerith returned home that night to her home in the slums, as usual… but something changed. The brunette woman with red eyes was _haunting_ her, enough to make her forget about the strange voices speaking to her from time to time.

After tossing and turning around in her bed, Aerith made up her mind to find out more about this woman.

*******

Rain was pouring heavily in Midgar. Neon signboards remained alight in the city, but the streets were almost empty of its dwellers. Among many who took refuge in the train station was Aerith, who was drenched from head to toe. She heaved a sigh of exhaustion. It was not a good day for Aerith. Not only people’s interest on her flowers were lesser than usual, thus reducing her income, it would also be impossible for her to return to her home. She was well aware that the flooding in the train station had submerged the heels of her boots. If the areas above the plates were flooded… Aerith could only imagine how far worse the flooding in the slums would be.

The time shown on the face of the station’s huge clock was 1am, and Aerith had begun yawning. She needed sleep, but disliked the idea of sleeping in the station! She had to come up with a solution. An inn would not be an option, as it would be too pricey for her.

A person crossed her mind… _again_. Perhaps, it would be the only person she could rely on.

She knew where to look for that person. Who in Midgar would not? She reached her intended destination… and the day’s unluckiness that was rubbing on her seemed to intensify. The place’s neon signboard had just been turned off, signalling that it was now closed.

It was upsetting Aerith… but she was not one to give up. 

Trusting her guts about the place’s owner, she hoped her excuse would be sufficiently convincing.

*******

Tifa was so… full of wonder. Aerith loved listening to her gentle and reassuring voice when they converse with one another, and the way her cheeks flushed with redness whenever Aerith teases her – making Aerith even more inclined to tease! Her firm self-reliance is admirable, but Aerith loved it more when she is _bare_ … and does not go through great lengths to hide her vulnerabilities – the tears she shed when she narrated her past, or the way her fists clenched when she spoke of Shinra Electric Power Company.

Tifa also believed in her accounts about her past… and her abilities to hear _things_. After so many years of not being able to share to someone else – except for her foster mother – about her peculiarity, Aerith was glad that she finally found someone that she felt like she could confide in about pretty much everything.

…and this someone was making her relearn to feel so much for someone else again.

After a failed romance with a man who disappeared from her life without notice – let alone a word, Aerith chose to seal her heart from thereon. She might have flirted with some people now and then, but they could never breach the protective wall she had built around her.

Then Tifa came… and unknowingly tore down the wall with ease.

Courting Tifa was, however, a whole different herculean task. Aerith could never push Tifa to make a love confession, even though she was confident that Tifa felt that way about her. Her teases and wooing were all met with either Tifa’s shy silence, or Tifa’s flimsy attempts to brush them off.

It was frustrating, but Aerith was determined to make Tifa admit her love first! 

*******

Aerith was busy tending to the flowers of the Sector 5 church, when a man with spiky blonde hair had fallen from the roof, reminding her all over again of _him_ – of Zack Fair. He had the same blue Mako-infused eyes, carried the same huge sword on his back and was also a first class SOLDIER. It was like… Zack had reappeared, but in a different form. When one of Shinra’s Turks came to take her away – just like they always do, she had to ask for the blonde man’s help. To her delight, he agreed – in exchange for a date.

The man told her that his name was Cloud Strife. So much of him reminded her of Zack but… there were moments when she felt like there was something off about him, as if a different person _in him_ was waiting for the right time to reveal himself. He was becoming intriguing to her… and she wanted to know more about him. Through this curiosity, Aerith acknowledged that she had started developing feelings for him too. 

When disclosing about this curiosity she had about Cloud to Tifa, it was clear that Tifa understood what was really going on – despite her leaving out the fact that she was having feelings for him.

She did not anticipate the extent of how deeply hurt Tifa was… until she realized that Tifa and she were fighting more than they ever did, over the smallest of issues.

These fights were relentless, until they escalated and erupted into something else while they were harvesting flowers from her home backyard, and were arguing about flower pricing as they often did.

“I’m telling you… a 10% discount of these yellow daises will bring you minimal losses. And people would be more willing to buy,” Tifa said, trying to persuade Aerith to change her mind.

“But these yellow daisies can only grow during spring. I can’t be charging less for them. It would devalue these flowers.”

Tifa sighed. “No, it’ll not. Like I said… it’ll only be 10%, and a way to attract more people to buy.”

“…I still think it’s not right. If I’m going to give discounts, it’ll be on other flowers.”

Tifa did not answer, but Aerith saw her shaking her head. “Fine. Just do what you think is right.”

She knew Tifa was holding back and it exasperated her. “Do you have something else that you want to say?!”

“I’m telling you now, am I not?! But you’re not listening!” Tifa blasted a reply, which was unbecoming of her.

“Well, try to be more honest, next time! I’m tired of having to guess about how you feel all the time!”

“Even if I do, you won’t listen anyway,” Tifa’s voice was trembling. It was not difficult for Aerith to understand that their argument was not just about the prices of the flowers. It was everything about them.

She had to decide… is it Tifa, or Cloud that is more important to her?

*******

“But I… we’re here for you right?”

Aerith had told Cloud about feeling lonely as the only Cetra on the Planet. Cloud offered her words of comfort, which she gladly welcomed. Yet, it was not enough to quell her anxieties.

“I know, I know. But… I’m the only Cetra.”

“Does this mean we can’t help?”

She closed her eyes, and her thoughts immediately wandered to Tifa.

That was when she knew. Her heart was with Tifa all along.

_I have to do this for the Planet – for her, even when it means I have to do it alone._

Aerith was resolute – nothing will stop her.

The events that followed soon after did nothing to bend her will. It angered her that Sephiroth was able to get his hand on the potently destructive black Materia, and it was devastating to watch Cloud lost his mind. But she was more determined than ever to complete the role that she was expected to do for the Planet. Thinking that Cloud should heal, and that no one else should get hurt, Aerith decided to leave AVALANCHE to settle with Sephiroth on her own.

Ahead of her lone journey, Aerith made a stop at Midgar. Her yearning to see Tifa had grown a little overwhelming. When they reunited, she told Tifa everything – about the Cetras, Jenova, Sephiroth and Meteor.

When the day was almost ending, and she could feel that her time with Tifa was nearing its end, she made an impulsive request that she knew would stun Tifa – but none of that mattered. The only concern she had was to spend as much time with Tifa as she could… and be as truthful as she could to Tifa.

…So she kissed Tifa first, and professed her love. Tifa confirmed what she knew all along – that the feeling was mutual. 

Now that she and Tifa had made their feelings known, Aerith knew she had to come back to Tifa. “I’ll be back when it’s all over,” was the promise she made before she left.

She will save the Planet and make it a better place for everyone to live in – for Tifa to live in – for them to live in together.

She will make sure of it.


End file.
